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†. Gen 9:4 . .You must not, however, eat flesh with its life-blood in it.
That restriction is against life-blood; so then blood that cannot support life--
dead blood --is exempt.
Life-blood, is actually blood that's alive; blood that hasn't begun to spoil;
viz: it's still fresh enough for a transfusion and contains enough active
ingredients to carry oxygen and heal wounds.
Ancient Jews understood that verse to mean it is unlawful to eat meat that
isn't dead; viz: it isn't merely uncooked; it's still viable-- fresh enough for a
successful graft.
T. But flesh which is torn of the living beast, what time the life is in it, or
that torn from a slaughtered animal before all the breath has gone forth, you
shall not eat. (Targum Jonathan)
The way I see it: Man isn't forbidden to dine upon raw meat; only that it
absolutely has to be dead with no chance of recovery. Same with blood. This
law is the very first law God laid down in the new world after the Flood. It
has never been repealed, and remains among the list of primary laws
imposed upon Christians.
"It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything
beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed
to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual
immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Fare well." (Acts 15:28
29)
A strangled animal still has all of its blood in it. The animal might be brain
dead, and its heart may have stopped beating, but its flesh will remain alive
for some time by reason of the viable blood still in its veins. Recent changes
to CPR procedures include no longer giving victims mouth-to-mouth
respiration for the first few minutes because the blood in a victim's system
still contains useful oxygen that can save their life merely by pumping the
chest as before.
Noah's Law #1 forbids Man to eat living flesh and living blood; and
Christians are no exception. Because of the danger of pathogens, it was
quite possibly necessary to add this limitation to the grant of liberty to eat
meat, lest, instead of nourishing his body by it, Man should inadvertently
destroy himself; and in this day and age of E.coli 0157:H7, 0104:H4, and
salmonella; adequately cooking meat can be considered a form of self
defense.
The prohibition against eating living flesh and blood is neither Jewish, nor is
it Christian. It's universal; because God enacted that law long before there
were any Jews or Christians. All human beings are under its jurisdiction. Man
can eat all the raw meat he wants; and he can eat blood too; but he has
absolutely no permission to eat either blood or meat that's still alive.
The animal world isn't so fussy. They routinely devour their prey alive all the
time. Hopefully no one reading this will ever stoop that low. The very best
way to assure that meat and its blood are dead is to cook it-- thoroughly;
and double check it with a meat thermometer.
At issue with the prohibition against eating blood are the feelings of some
that modern slaughter houses don't always kill animals properly. Many use a
device called a captured-bolt to stun the animals and then workers slit the
animals' throats while they're unconscious. Sometimes the bolt kills an
animal instead of knocking it out and then all that the slaughter house has
to work with is gravity because the animal's heart isn't pumping to assist. So
there are those who feel no one should eat common meat because you can't
guarantee the animal's blood was properly drained.
Exactly what the definition of "properly drained" is I don't know because it's
impossible to drain every last drop of blood out of meat no matter how you
might go about it; so the prohibition against eating blood has got to be
interpreted from a practical perspective rather than from a purist's
perspective.
There are cultures that poke holes in cows' necks in order to drink blood
straight out of the animal utilizing its own blood pressure like a tap to fill
their cups. Other cultures cut open the thorax of animals freshly taken in
hunting in order to take blood-soaked bites of the animal's heart. Those
examples are probably about as close to vampirism as one can get without
actually joining Edward Cullen's family and undergoing the conversion
process.
†. Gen 9:5 . . But for your own life-blood I will require a reckoning: I
will require it of every beast; of man, too, will I require a reckoning
for human life, of every man for that of his fellow man!
Noah's Law #2 mandates capital punishment; viz: eye-for-an-eye retribution
for the unjustified killing of a human being. This law is also a universal law
and applies to every family of Man and Beast that descends from the ark; no
exceptions.
God requires an investigation into the death of a human being whenever it is
caused by another human being or by a member of the animal kingdom. If
the killing cannot be justified, the perpetrator has to be executed at the
hands of human beings: no exceptions.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
†. Gen 9:4 . .You must not, however, eat flesh with its life-blood in it.
That restriction is against life-blood; so then blood that cannot support life--
dead blood --is exempt.
Life-blood, is actually blood that's alive; blood that hasn't begun to spoil;
viz: it's still fresh enough for a transfusion and contains enough active
ingredients to carry oxygen and heal wounds.
Ancient Jews understood that verse to mean it is unlawful to eat meat that
isn't dead; viz: it isn't merely uncooked; it's still viable-- fresh enough for a
successful graft.
T. But flesh which is torn of the living beast, what time the life is in it, or
that torn from a slaughtered animal before all the breath has gone forth, you
shall not eat. (Targum Jonathan)
The way I see it: Man isn't forbidden to dine upon raw meat; only that it
absolutely has to be dead with no chance of recovery. Same with blood. This
law is the very first law God laid down in the new world after the Flood. It
has never been repealed, and remains among the list of primary laws
imposed upon Christians.
"It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything
beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed
to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual
immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Fare well." (Acts 15:28
29)
A strangled animal still has all of its blood in it. The animal might be brain
dead, and its heart may have stopped beating, but its flesh will remain alive
for some time by reason of the viable blood still in its veins. Recent changes
to CPR procedures include no longer giving victims mouth-to-mouth
respiration for the first few minutes because the blood in a victim's system
still contains useful oxygen that can save their life merely by pumping the
chest as before.
Noah's Law #1 forbids Man to eat living flesh and living blood; and
Christians are no exception. Because of the danger of pathogens, it was
quite possibly necessary to add this limitation to the grant of liberty to eat
meat, lest, instead of nourishing his body by it, Man should inadvertently
destroy himself; and in this day and age of E.coli 0157:H7, 0104:H4, and
salmonella; adequately cooking meat can be considered a form of self
defense.
The prohibition against eating living flesh and blood is neither Jewish, nor is
it Christian. It's universal; because God enacted that law long before there
were any Jews or Christians. All human beings are under its jurisdiction. Man
can eat all the raw meat he wants; and he can eat blood too; but he has
absolutely no permission to eat either blood or meat that's still alive.
The animal world isn't so fussy. They routinely devour their prey alive all the
time. Hopefully no one reading this will ever stoop that low. The very best
way to assure that meat and its blood are dead is to cook it-- thoroughly;
and double check it with a meat thermometer.
At issue with the prohibition against eating blood are the feelings of some
that modern slaughter houses don't always kill animals properly. Many use a
device called a captured-bolt to stun the animals and then workers slit the
animals' throats while they're unconscious. Sometimes the bolt kills an
animal instead of knocking it out and then all that the slaughter house has
to work with is gravity because the animal's heart isn't pumping to assist. So
there are those who feel no one should eat common meat because you can't
guarantee the animal's blood was properly drained.
Exactly what the definition of "properly drained" is I don't know because it's
impossible to drain every last drop of blood out of meat no matter how you
might go about it; so the prohibition against eating blood has got to be
interpreted from a practical perspective rather than from a purist's
perspective.
There are cultures that poke holes in cows' necks in order to drink blood
straight out of the animal utilizing its own blood pressure like a tap to fill
their cups. Other cultures cut open the thorax of animals freshly taken in
hunting in order to take blood-soaked bites of the animal's heart. Those
examples are probably about as close to vampirism as one can get without
actually joining Edward Cullen's family and undergoing the conversion
process.
†. Gen 9:5 . . But for your own life-blood I will require a reckoning: I
will require it of every beast; of man, too, will I require a reckoning
for human life, of every man for that of his fellow man!
Noah's Law #2 mandates capital punishment; viz: eye-for-an-eye retribution
for the unjustified killing of a human being. This law is also a universal law
and applies to every family of Man and Beast that descends from the ark; no
exceptions.
God requires an investigation into the death of a human being whenever it is
caused by another human being or by a member of the animal kingdom. If
the killing cannot be justified, the perpetrator has to be executed at the
hands of human beings: no exceptions.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=